July End Update

Well, here is the end-of-July-update:

Cathy was gone for a long weekend recently (all by herself, to visit Napa Valley and bestest friends in Oregon) and Matt told me, on the way to the airport, that he thought he was going to be able to go a whole MONTH without a dr. appointment - yippee. We got all excited...However, unfortunately it is not to be. The neuropathy is getting worse and as such, Dr. Oa, our medical oncologist, wants him to see and get more tests by a neurologist, to be sure to rule anything other than that which is a side effect of the Cisplatin (which Matt is pretty sure it is). Matt has an appointment with a new neurologist next week - argh.

This neuropathy is really weird, and really sucks. Last night it was so bad Matt couldn't open the Advil bottle - which he really needed as his fingers were so painful (like a bunch of bee stings) he couldn't sleep. Ouch. It also creeps into his elbows, knees and sometimes, now, shoulder joints. We understand this is somewhat typical of a side effect of Cisplatin specifically and of chemo in general, but it sure is no fun.

Its weird; it seems like our life has been organized/unfolding by "quarters" (3 months at a time): a quarter of surgeries, a quarter of treatment, a quarter of mouth issues, and now it looks like a quarter (actually, two quarters as it started really at the end of treatment in March) and maybe even more?! of dealing with neuropathy.

Sigh. We are still taking healing thoughts; send 'em Matt's way?!

A July update: 1 doctor down; 18 to go

We just returned from our summer vacation (camping/RVing on the south shores of Lake Superior) with lots of much needed sleep and relaxing for both of us. I reminded Matt, when we were wondering if we should feel guilty for sleeping in so much, that if our bodies didn't need it - we wouldn't be still sleeping at 10am in the morning. :-) This was one of the longest stretches without dr. appointments, for Matt, since October 2009 -yeow.

With this being said, since our return Matt has had a bunch of follow-up appointments, and happily things are finally looking really good (KNOCK ON WOOD). In a nutshell:
- saw Dr. Oa, his oncologist and while his hemoglobin is still low (from the chemo) he does not need to see her again, she says - yeah. So, medical oncology: COMPLETE.
- saw Dr. Ha, oral surgeon, and the "hole" in Matt's mouth is officially healing all by itself and looks good. Thank goodness. (Matt's final hyperbaric treatment was the Friday before we left.) His appointment included getting a CT scan of Matt's head to look for bone lesions, infection, tumors and it all looks nice and clear.
- Matt had his July PET scan and we already heard back from Dr. Doogie: it too is looking clear. Phew. Now, just another couple months (Sept will be the 6 months point which is big for this cancer).

The only thing that is still a bit up in the air is whether or not Matt should get a couple more weeks of oxygen therapy. We think it is helping Matt's fatigue factor (which is still pretty extreme - a combination of recoup from chemo/radiation as well as the low hemoglobin), and he is still hourly at work, so it wouldn't be the end of the world...However we are girding our loins to battle with insurance around this treatment as it is not covering all costs (and be forewarned: hyperbaric is nearly as expensive as radiation!!).

Other than all of this...the neuropathy is still present and pesky, but time will tell...Just slowly getting back to normal?!